Not long after Xue Qin left, Xue Zhi came back.
Zheng Xiu was busy again, and Minghui and others consciously retreated to the outside to keep watch.
Seeing him come back, Minghui was about to go in to inform him.
Xue Zhi waved his hand to stop him, and said softly: "Don't disturb your wives, I'll just go in and take a look."
Minghui nodded and let him in.
Xue Zhi slowly moved into the room, even his breathing became lighter.
Zheng Xiu lowered her head and was thinking about the abacus, and she did not notice anyone coming in.
Xue Zhi stood quietly outside the screen for a while, and saw Zheng Xiu's thin neck, which made her feel distressed.
Zheng Xiu raised her head and saw Xue Zhi standing there like a thief.
She couldn't help but laugh and said, "What are you doing so secretly? You're back but why don't
you come in?" Seeing that she was not in a bad mood, Xue Zhi also laughed, "Aren't I afraid of disturbing you?" Then he went around the screen and went in, sat down at the table next to Zheng Xiu, and asked, "Has Aqin been here?"
Zheng Xiu nodded, "Did you know the prince was coming?"
Xue Zhi explained, "He originally came to ask me for help, but I didn't dare to agree to it for you without permission, so I let him come to find you himself."
"I have already agreed. I will accompany Hanyu to Changfeng Garden to see the princess tomorrow."
Xue Zhi did not forget to instruct, "Since Hanyu wants to help, you just need to take up the title. There is no need to tire yourself out."
"I know." Zheng Xiu said.
The two talked for a while, and Zheng Xiu had rested enough, so she continued to open the account book and read it.
Xue Zhi just stood quietly by the side, and did not say anything.
Zheng Xiu kept calculating, but she could not figure it out, and she could not help but feel upset. She looked up and saw Xue Zhi staring at her blankly, so she frowned and asked him: "Why are you so idle? Don't you have anything to do?"
Xue Zhi said: "I have been in the study these days, and I have dealt with all the things I have."
"Then don't stand in front of me, it makes me upset." Zheng Xiu said unhappily.
Xue Zhi did not understand why Zheng Xiu was fine just now, but now her face changed suddenly. He felt sorry for her and wanted to accompany her, but now he could only stand up and go back to the study room in front.
Zheng Xiu worked on the abacus until the evening. When it got dark, a row of candles were lit on the side of the room.
Xue Zhi went to pick up Xue Shao and the father and son went back to Hao Yetang together.
Before entering the house, Xue Zhi reminded Xue Shao, "Your mother has been busy these days and is irritable. You must not be naughty and make her angry."
"Dad, I know." Xue Shao said. He was not stupid, so he naturally noticed that his mother was abnormal during this period. In the past, he would stay in Hao Yetang to play for a while, but now he would go back to the house to do homework after dinner every day, for fear that the heat would make his mother angry.
When Zheng Xiu saw them coming back together, she realized that it was getting late, so she asked Bai Zhu to prepare dinner, and the family started eating.
The dishes that day included pigeon with big belly, braised pork elbow, fish fillet in milk sauce, golden mushroom and cabbage, etc.
Zheng Xiu lost her appetite after seeing the two big dishes, and put down her bowl and chopsticks without eating a few mouthfuls of rice.
Xue Zhi looked at her and was naturally anxious. He asked her, "Is the food not to your liking? What do you want to eat? I'll ask the kitchen to make it for you again."
Zheng Xiu moved her sore neck and said, "I have no appetite and don't want to eat anything. I just feel very tired and want to go to bed early."
Xue Shao said, "Mom, don't worry about us. Go to bed for a while."
Zheng Xiu didn't have any temper with her children. She smiled and said, "Okay, I'll go and rest. You eat obediently. When you go back, finish your homework early and go to bed early." Xue
Shao nodded obediently, "I know, Mom."
Zheng Xiu stood up, asked Minghui to prepare a change of clothes for her, and went to the bathroom to take a shower.
When she left, Xue Zhi also lost his appetite. Usually, the father and son would finish a plate of pork elbow, but now only half of it was left.
Xue Shao sensibly picked up some food for his father and advised, "Dad, eat more too. You still have to take care of mom."
Xue Zhi smiled bitterly and said, "Your mom has been upset every time she sees me these days. It would be great if I could take care of her."
Xue Shao had no choice but to say, "The New Year is just a few days away. It should be fine after mom is done with her work. You should also be more considerate of her and do
n't get angry with her." How could Xue Zhi get angry with Zheng Xiu? He felt sorry for her. After
they finished their dinner, Xue Shao returned to the chamber, and Zheng Xiu also took a bath, changed into pajamas, and went into the inner room.
When Xue Zhi entered the room, Zheng Xiu was half lying on the kang with her eyes closed, resting, while Minghui was wiping her hair.
Xue Zhi approached with light steps and motioned Minghui to hand him the towel.
Minghui handed the towel over and left.
Xue Zhi wrapped a dry towel around the ends of her hair and wiped it gently until it was completely dry. Zheng Xiu didn't even blink.
He stood for a while, listening to her even breathing, and then confirmed that she was asleep. He then gently picked her up and put her on the bed. After
being moved from the kang to the warm, comfortable bed that smelled of incense, Zheng Xiu woke up, opened her eyelids and saw that it was Xue Zhi next to her, so she closed her eyes and fell asleep again with peace of mind.
Xue Zhi watched her until she fell asleep, then he left quietly. He was afraid of waking her up again, so he simply went back to the study room in front to rest.
The next morning, Zheng Xiu woke up early. Because she had a good sleep the night before, she was in better spirits than in the past few days. As
soon as she finished washing and dressing, Wang Hanyu came over and waited to go to Changfeng Garden with her.
Zheng Xiu had eaten less the night before and felt a little hungry, but she didn't want to make Wang Hanyu wait, so she drank two sips of hot tea and accompanied her.
Princess Guihe had already woken up. She was so busy this month that she lost a lot of weight. She had to arrange everything for the hundreds of people in the mansion personally, so you can imagine how complicated the affairs were.
After Zheng Xiu and Wang Hanyu arrived, Chunzhi led them into the house.
Princess Guihe was listening to Qiurui's report on the matters to be handled today. When she saw them coming, she raised her eyes and said, "You are here."
Zheng Xiu and Wang Hanyu bowed and greeted them.
Princess Guihe showed them a seat and asked someone to serve tea.
Wang Hanyu felt a little uneasy. Although she had learned to manage household affairs from her mother for several years at home, she was not proficient in it. She didn't know what tasks Princess Guihe would assign her.
Princess Guihe was not in a hurry to talk about business. Instead, she looked at Zheng Xiu curiously and asked, "Why have you lost so much weight? Azhi didn't give you any food?"
Zheng Xiu smiled and said, "I've been busy with the accounts these days and I really haven't had time to eat."
Princess Guihe said, "You still have to eat. Look how thin you are. What else can I ask you to do?" As she spoke, she asked Qiurui to prepare breakfast. "You came so early, you haven't had breakfast yet, come and have it with me."
Wang Hanyu was flattered and agreed. This was the first time that Princess Guihe took the initiative to keep her meal.
When Zheng Xiu came out of Haoye Hall, she was indeed feeling very hungry and had no appetite at the moment. However, she still sat down with them for the sake of Princess Guihe.
Princess Guihe had a poor appetite recently, so she mainly ate light meals. On this day, the table was filled with simple red bean porridge, plum cakes, sesame rolls, candied dates, almond tofu, and a few side dishes.
Zheng Xiu drank two mouthfuls of porridge and tasted the cakes. She unexpectedly found that the plum cake was sour and delicious, which was more to her taste than the others, so she ate a few more pieces.
Princess Guihe saw that she was eating vigorously, so she asked someone to bring another plate and put it in front of her.
Meanwhile, Wang Hanyu had already finished a small bowl of porridge, put down her bowl and chopsticks, and wiped the corners of her mouth quietly with a handkerchief.
Zheng Xiu asked for another bowl of porridge, smiled embarrassedly, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you."
Princess Guihe said, "It's not the first or second time that you've laughed, just eat slowly." After saying that, she also finished eating and put down her bowl and chopsticks, and asked Wang Hanyu to follow her into the inner room. She was a little worried about Wang Hanyu, so she said that she would let her help with Zheng Xiu, but today, seeing how thin Zheng Xiu was, she didn't want to assign anything to her, so she simply told Wang Hanyu what to do.
After listening to it, Wang Hanyu agreed one by one and kept it in mind.
The two talked in the inner room for a long time, and then came out. Outside, Zheng Xiu had just finished her third bowl of porridge. She ate almost all of the two plates of plum cakes on the table.
Princess Guihe couldn't help but wonder, "Is it so delicious?"
Zheng Xiu felt even more embarrassed and said with a smile, "Plums are not often available at this time, and I was greedy for a moment."
Princess Guihe nodded, turned around and told Qiu Rui to take a few jars of pickled plums back to Zheng Xiu.
Zheng Xiu came here to do some work, but she didn't expect that she didn't do anything, but ate and took things.
She said ashamedly, "Do you think there is anything else you can ask me to do?"
Princess Guihe said, "Nothing else, I have already told you everything."
Zheng Xiu looked at Wang Hanyu again, and Wang Hanyu nodded at her.
Princess Guihe was also going to start to deal with things, so Zheng Xiu and Wang Hanyu left voluntarily.
The two of them walked out of Changfeng Garden together. Before they parted, Wang Hanyu said to her, "I still have a few jars of plum sauce. I'll have someone send it to Second Aunt later."
Zheng Xiu hurriedly said no, saying, "The princess gave me a lot, and I can't finish it all at once."
Wang Hanyu smiled, "Second Aunt, don't be so polite to me. It's not something valuable. Just consider it as my heartfelt gift."
Zheng Xiu didn't refuse, and the two said goodbye and returned to their own courtyards.
Perhaps it was because of the wind outside and because she got up early, Zheng Xiu arrived at Haoye Hall. As soon as she lifted the curtain, she felt the heat rushing out, which made her feel uncomfortable.
She wanted to endure it, but as soon as she stepped into the house, her eyes suddenly went black and she fell forward uncontrollably. Fortunately, Minghui, who was standing by, quickly supported her. Fen Ge and Bai Zhu also helped her immediately. Together, the three of them helped her sit on a chair.
Minghui immediately ordered Fen Ge and Bai Zhu, "Go get the doctor, and go to the front yard to inform the second master."
The two of them responded, turned around and walked out quickly.
Zheng Xiu did not really faint. She had recovered and her vision had returned to normal. She waved her hand and said, "Don't go to such lengths. I'm not seriously ill. I'm probably just tired."
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